Round Information

By Invitation only

Discovering the joy of writing and reading at The Grand Imaginarium. Image courtesy of Kids Own Publishing

Grants made through The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift aim to improve the opportunities available for disadvantaged children and lay the foundations for future positive health, social and educational outcomes. These grants are made through several program areas including the Arts, Community Wellbeing, Environment & Conservation and Education, reaching children of varying ages and circumstances. The common thread of the grants is that they support education and encourage an interest in the environment, or the arts and literature, to create opportunities for personal development and assist children to overcome barriers that may limit their achievement.

The largest grant made through the Alec Prentice Sewell Gift to date is $500,000 to Centennial Parklands Foundation to build The Ian Potter Children’s Wild Play Garden in Centennial Park. This will be the first children’s garden in Sydney, and will encourage children to engage in nature-based play and connect with the natural environment. The garden will be connected to Centennial Parkland’s education facilities. The Foundation awarded a total of $1.5m in support of this project with funding also coming from the Foundation’s Education program and through a 50th Anniversary Commemorative grant.

Since the Alec Prentice Sewell Gift was set up in 2003, grants valued at $4.2 million have been awarded to 49 organisations around Australia.

Direct grant applications cannot be made to The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift, grants are made via other program areas and generally only one or two grants are awarded annually.

Feature Case Studies

Education has the potential to be truly transformative, particularly for students experiencing complex disadvantage. Anglicare Victoria's TEACHaR program seeks to 'close this education gap' for students living in out-of-home.

Organisation:

Anglicare

Project:

TEACHaR - Transforming Educational Achievement for Children in Home-based and Residential care

‘[Anglicare's] teachers were pivotal to [the student's] engagement in the classroom and willingness to come to school every day. This success cannot be underestimated. Also giving ... the College an insight into [the student's] world ... was critical to his successful integration into school.’

Zoos Victoria is one of the biggest providers of education outside the classroom in Victoria. An integral part of the education system, research shows that every school visits the zoo once every two years. However, our classrooms weren't moving with the times. Digest Ed was an opportunity to bring our education offering into the 21st century.

‘I've seen growth in the kids. It's been exciting to be involved in something of this scale...seeing the kids' excitement about books grow. They are [now] happy to pick up a text from our bookshelf and engage in a book to read.’

Donations

Support Australia's most innovative projects through a donation to The Ian Potter Foundation. Your donation will support projects that address areas of particular need or opportunity, managed by credible organisations with solid track records in their particular fields. Donate

Hey, it seems you"re using a browser that is a little past its time and our website might not be able to perform as it should. If you’d like to have the best experience on our website, you can easily find out about updating your browser here